


Glories and Laments

by Madame_Butterfly



Category: Thor - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, Greek Mythology - Freeform, I can't even tag correctly, M/M, Norse Mythology - Freeform, Odin's A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 02:47:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9637532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madame_Butterfly/pseuds/Madame_Butterfly
Summary: Deprived of approbation and affection all his life when wed to Thor he believes to have finally found what he has been seeking but is fate ever so kind?





	1. Chapter 1

'Beware the knife that doth strike from behind'

 

My land was in ascendancy, our sphere of influence reaching as far as the southern reaches of Muspelheim. Farbauti, my lady mother had grasped manifest destiny and led our home into an age of culture and sophistication, a golden age. Her actions were met always with soaring approval. Our court held the mystifying sophistication of those Eastern Midgard. Our guardsmen held their distinctive longswords and our feminine jotun faces as pale as snow. It was as some would say a 'Cultural Revolution'

Politics as well as could be expected were as difficult as they had always been. 

It happened when I was an Ascendant Sister to the Sisterhood of Noble Ladies, I was to become one day through hard work and dedication an Arch-Abbess, I would hold a position within the grand council and would give the guidance to keep our temple in high esteem amongst the people. 

But 'twas not meant to be, my dreams of quiet piety would be thrashed to pieces. 

I would be thrust into a world not of my own. 

I was called from from the Archdiocese of Òttast to hold an audience with my lady mother. In my embroidered silken robes and white gloves of an Ascendant Sister. My final vows were not yet taken, scheduled to be taken in only a few weeks. 

I remember the walk through the vaulting halls. My robes skirting the marble floors, the heavy echoing footsteps of my guardsmen, the Eye's of her Lady as they were called, Paladins, brothers-in-arms, the proper sort of man. 

My heart was beating furiously as I approached the throne room, I hadn't been within the walls of the Capitol for well over a century, not since the day I left as a novice sister. 

I curtsied low before my mother holding it was fifteen seconds. One-one thousand, two, two thousand and so forth 'I greet thee mater' were my words of greeting 

'Child I see the convent has hardened you' said my mother rising from her throne to stand at full height. 

'I would not quite say that, it has wisened me, I daresay' my voice was cool, I knew not how I ought address the woman I so boldly went against so long before. 

'Well Loki, I am going to be honest with you' it hit me like a dagger being driven through my heart 'You are quite fertile'

She needn't have said anymore and I for years wished she had not. 

'Yes, my lady I am aware and I know exactly where this conversation is going to lead, I made my choice years ago, my answer is what it always has been, no' my voice was unwavering in that but I ever the victim of the injustice of existence, my words I soon realised would mean nothing. 

'Loptr' Seethed my mother through gritted teeth and a scowl 'You will be silent’ as quickly as she angered her expression falls to sickening smile ‘are you quite finished?' 

I did not respond

'You think you are doing right Loptr' she let out a cold mirthless laugh 'You always do'

I opened my mouth to defend myself but the words of our lady come to mind 'Turn the other cheek to them'

'I rather struggle to think of you out in the nine alone, leading that gaggle of women into Gods knows what, it's sickening really, you trust everyone' 

'And for the longest time I trusted you above all else' uttered I

'A damn good thing too, the likes of you need a protector, and quite frankly I am far too old to be chasing after some foolish child thinking thyself a martyr'

'You blood doth run cold' said I in ill conceived fury all but betraying my oath to speak only in temperate words even to those who would wish me misfortune. 

'As such I have called you here to suggest a marriage' I knew not what my mother hoped to gain from this exploit of hers. Regardless were it not for my naïveté I would have. 

'Madam, I am married to my gods' said I in my calmest of tones to be mustered. 

'Not quite, you vows are not yet taken and you've a few more centuries yet to birth a child, as a matter of fact I've found the perfect match for you, that upstart, the Aesir the Odinson...'

The room went silent, I inhaled sharply, the use of that name I'd for my entire life hated so much, that man was for the jotun the stuff of nightmares, the stories parents told their children when they were misbehaving. He was to many a horrifying memory.

Yet my mother went on '...you've always been fond of an upstart, he's not quite your Thrymm was but he ought to serve some purpose...but I am not without diplomacy you've a one month to decide on the question of marriage...remember this is for the good of your people, is it not a sister's duty to preserve the lives of the innocents?' I had let in the illusion the decision was mine to make. 

That was what I pondered for days to come, I prayed and prayed, I slept little, I exchanged letters with Vulcan and Hecate, pondered my short lived marriage to Grand Duke Thrym of Lower Jotunheimr before my appointment as an ascendant sister, I took counsel with Mother Superior who said my duty was to preserve our people, we were sisters without patron and yet it seemed Moros was guiding my steps, but one night after days of praying and fasting and of hiding behind a mask cautious counsel it all came to me in a dream. 

There I was, in the vaulting halls of the great palace of Niflheim, the land of mystery, shrouded in fog. Unlike the palace I knew in the waking world it was abandoned and desolate falling apart. Crumbling all over. 

In a tattered white gown of satin, flowing satin, glittering diamonds, exactly like that of my wedding gown when I was wed to Thrym, I could feel Gabriel's champagne on my tongue, I could not remember much aside from the mournful dance I performed as I flowed alone through the hall. 

When I awoke I knew then and there what my decision was, I was to marry the upstart Odinson, knew I neither it were my own or my mother's decision. For my gods had willed it and I as always was bound to serve and obey.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao let's just breeze through this, I literally didn't even edit this

The wedding plans commenced immediately, scheduled for the end of the month was I to be wed to the Odinson, before long I was made to relinquish my duties and soon title as Ascendent Sister, my heart ached for the temple, it felt as if I had lost connection with my own gods, were I blasphemous to be wed to the upstart Aesir who he and his ilk thought themselves gods? Was it I who committed sin? Before long to self righteous among the Jotun, those who still remember the Aesir-Jotun war, before long some revered me as a Saint and others whisper the dreaded word, the one that makes my stomach turn, they whisper the word ‘Heretic’, it horrified them that I the widow of the Mjolnir worthy Thrymm consented to what would be my death. 

My heart ached greatly for the comfort I once found when I was wed to Thrymm, his firm but gentle hand, he really was the only person ever to be kind to me. For the first time in a century of widowhood I felt alone.

So it was that I left the sisterhood and I knew then and I know it now, I was never to see any of the sisters ever again. 

With the sisterhood at my back and Asgard calling I went on and before long I found myself lost in the marriage preparations, choosing betwixt brocade and velvets, pearls and emeralds, indeed I had wanted to just quit it all, restore that status quo and resume as if it were an ordinary day. 

But life goes on the way it does and so with the passing of days my grief slowly melted as does the snow when spring comes and I threw myself into the preparations, I designed my own wedding gown, I choose the attire of my ladies in waiting and what jewellery I would take to Asgard. 

And yet as the wedding day loomed closer and closer it was as if dark clouds loomed ahead and I began to dread each coming day, I laid awake at night fraught with anxiety over what was to happen in what was now only a matter of days. 

Eventually came the day I dreaded so severely as I found myself dressing in my travelling habit, a salmon suede gown and over coat, I did not bid my mother farewell for I worried I may say something I ought not, so I boarded the gilded carriage as my retinue made our way to our destination, anxiety gripping my heart and filling my stomach with such horrors that never before had I fathomed we made our way to Asgard, what was an enjoyable sojourn for some was a war of the conscience for me. 

I watched mournfully from the little window in our carriage as we traversed the land, I watched the warriors ahead of us, in their ceremonial armour, the crest of the house of Farbauti on their chest. I twisted the band on my finger from my wedding to Thrymm slowly, fingering the large diamond, I would have to take it off and never wear it again, effectively the end of my old life, for what was ahead was perhaps the beginning in my end. 

I had been sent a miniature portrait of my betrothed, small enough to fit in my pocket, I looked at it often, at the azure eyed man I was to wed, if the portrait was to be believed indeed he was a dominating presence, ‘But’ one of the ladies reassured me ‘He does have such kind eyes’ but her words did me no comfort, as it was only a matter of a few hours before we arrived in Asgard where we were to be greeted at the bifrost by my betrothed and the royal family. Indeed it was a frightening thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally didnt even edit this

On the day of my wedding I bade farewell to the ladies of Jotunheimr, I knew I would just as I would the sisters, never see them again. So it was to be I would be dressed by Aesir women, women I had never known, women who knew nothing of my ways, these heathens who served self proclaimed gods, they did not know how I wear my hair, they insisted I wear the Spirits of Saturn even though I never have for I knew the health risks, the manicurists were rough and cut my fingers. They dressed me in an extravagant Midgardian robe l’anglaise with large panniers to give the illusion of good birthing hips. 

I could think of this as nothing but a funeral, I may weep and I may cry and I may shriek but that day I was to be wed. I was a royal, the third child, the spare heir, and for that grave misfortune I was destined to be sold and bartered as if I were a yard of ribbon. 

So it was whether I willed it or not in midsummer of the year 1723 that we arrived in Asgard and almost as quickly as we arrived had I endured this ordeal my betrothed and I were standing before Odin and Frigga in the Sacellum of Ymir, an ancient place of worship that was severely undersized the heat within was unbearable, both Aesir and Jotun alike filled the hall, were it not for lady Frigga’s intervention doubtless many a jotun would have fallen to the heat and had I not taken on an Aesir skin I too would have fallen victim to the heat. I removed my gloves so as to relive my hands of the heat, however much I could

I stared only forward, keeping my posture for hundreds of people were watching me like vultures, avoiding eye contact with Thor, I a prince and Grand Duchess was forced to endure this gross injustice for this was the way of the royals, marriage came first and if you were lucky love came next, for in this wedding Thor brought a throne while I brought prestige. 

Sweat pouring down Thor's face, his odour almost unbearable, I endured, my hands held uncomfortably and almost painfully tight by thee, but it seemed that before I knew it the ceremony had flown by in a flash of splendour and pomp, the vows of honour and fidelity were sworn thrice and a frigid kiss was placed by my now lord husband against the corner of my mouth. This man who until a months previous was my greatest enemy. This man he who had thunder and lightning at his fingertips, who could take my own life in such a quick moment that even with my seidr no defence could be made. This all terrified me it gripped my heart with such a terror that never before had I ever hoped to fathom, I had dreaded my marriage to Thrymm and yet he was to me the kindest soul in all the nine, yet he was the only person ever to be kind to me and I could only hope that what I thought of Thor was merely the conjuration of a nervous mind, lies and conjecture and not the truth. I hoped that indeed he was kind and not so bloodthirsty as I had heard. As I stood once more I was wed and once more I was bound to serve and obey for is that not the way of the everyday consort?

Within the Sacellum I had wanted to cry ‘He is terrible!’ My now husband in the brief words I had spoken he was blatant and rude, he was untidy and scarred. He smelt terribly of sweat and iron, he was an oaf. Surely I had thought by when I had spoken with the Allfather that his son might be very similar, for I had found the Allfather charming in his old Aesir way, he was while straightforward neither careless nor harsh. Just imagine how horrified I was when Thor and I boarded our carriage to take us to the Sacellum that he spoke hardly a word, and rarely answered anything I asked, he instead chose to look at his feet and pick his fingernails. This was the man I was to be coupled with until the end of our days, I had spent years mastering etiquette, learning the Allspeak and the history of the realms to be an accomplished consort, even while I was a sister I had strived to better myself and yet this oaf clearly had not a care for the seriousness of the arrangement. 

As we left the Sacellum accompanied by cheers of the crowd, I was swept away, dropping one of my gloves as I was being taken to the next function, later I was to be told that in dropping the glove, it presented a bad omen, something I would soon come to regret. 

Soon after being wed as a result of my mothers insistence I was taken to sign an act, it was called ‘The Act of Jotun Succession’ here it was that I relinquished my claim to the throne of Jotunheimr, my hand hesitated when went to sign the parchment witnessed by the Jotun delegates and Odin with his councillors, here it was I signed away what little remained of my old life, first Thrymm was taken from me, then my mother took me from the Sisterhood and now she took Jotunheimr from me, now all that was left was my blood, doubtless Asgard would take it, my only hope was that I would not suffer long. 

I felt no happiness at being wed, just dread and uncertainty.


End file.
